The Lunchbox is a 2013 Indian epistolary romance film written, edited and directed by Ritesh Batra, and produced by Guneet Monga, Anurag Kashyap, and Karan Johar. The film was jointly produced by various studios including DAR motion pictures, UTV Motion Pictures, Dharma Productions, Sikhya Entertainment and NFDC (India). It stars Irrfan Khan, Nimrat Kaur and Nawazuddin Siddiqui in lead roles.
The film was screened at International Critics’ Week at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, and later won the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award also known as Grand Rail d’Or. It was shown at the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival. The film was released in India on 20 September 2013.
The film was a box-office success. It was Irrfan Khan’s highest-grossing Hindi film, until it was surpassed by ‘Hindi Medium’ (2017). ‘The Lunchbox’ was nominated for the Best Film Not in the English Language category of the British Academy Film Awards 2015.
Development
Ritesh Batra, who had made short films, ‘The Morning Ritual’, ‘Gareeb Nawaz ki Taxi’ and ‘Cafe Regular, Cairo’, started researching for a documentary on the famous Lunchbox delivery system of Mumbai, dabbawala, known for their efficiency, however, after spending a week with them in 2007, he got to know of many interesting personal stories they would overhear while waiting outside an apartment.
This gave birth to the idea of the film, and instead of making the documentary he began writing a film script. In time the film became a joint production between Sikhya Entertainment, DAR motion pictures, National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), India, ROH Films, Germany, ASAP Films, France and the Cine Mosaic, US of Lydia Dean Pilcher who previously produced films like, The Talented Mr Ripley (1999) and The Namesake (2007), and Germany’s Match Factory became its international sales agent.
Writing
Batra completed the first draft of the screenplay in 2011. He was assisted by Rutvik Oza. It went on to win an Honourable Jury Mention at the 2012 Cinemart at the Rotterdam International Film Festival. Thereafter the project was part of the Talent Project Market of Berlin International Film Festival and was mentored at the screenwriter’s lab (Torino Film Lab) at the Torino Film Festival. The character of Ila played by Nimrat Kaur, six months prior to the shooting, and the character played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui was further developed and improvised during shooting.
Casting
Irrfan Khan liked the script of the film and the concept of his character, not speaking much but talking through notes. After seeing Batra’s short film and a couple of meetings he agreed to act in the film. Batra wanted to work with Nawazuddin Siddiqui, another principal character of the film, for a long time. For the female lead, auditions were conducted, wherein Nimrat Kaur was selected. Kaur had extensive experience at the Mumbai theatre and worked in films like Peddlers. Some of the dabbawalas whom the director befriended while researching for the film, also were cast in minor roles.
Filming
The film was shot in 2012 in Mumbai at a budget of Indian Rupees 220 million. Prior to the filming, the cast rehearsed for six months. It was shot using the Arri Alexa digital film camera. Many of the scenes were logistically broken down to make way for last minute location changes. According to Ritesh Batra, scenes on the train involved the use of only one compartment, and even included actual local commuters when needed.
Principal photography lasted 29 days, with a majority of the film’s scenes done in three weeks. Afterwards, footage taken in a documentary manner were shot. Mumbai’s famous dabbawalas were provided actual lunchboxes to deliver, and followed by a four-member film crew, which filmed the process in documentary style.
Screenings and film festivals
The film was screened on 19 May 2013 as a part of the International Critics’ Week at the 2013 Cannes Film Festival, where it received a standing ovation and positive reviews. It won the Critics Week Viewers Choice Award also known as Grand Rail d’Or. Variety called it “a notable debut from tyro helmer-scripter Ritesh Batra”, for creating a film with “crossover appeal of Monsoon Wedding”, and also praised acting of Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur.
Thereafter, Sony Pictures Classics picked up all North American rights for distribution.
In India, this film was released in more than 400 screens on 20 September 2013.
Oscar selection controversy
The Lunchbox was considered by many people throughout the year to be a lock as India’s selection for the 86th Academy Awards Best Foreign Film Category, with many critics enthusiastically praising it and voting for it to be the representative film. Director Karan Johar also put his support behind the film saying “All kinds of audience can connect with it and yet within the parameters of love story it is completely unusual. You feel all the love in the world for the protagonists and the unusual aspect of it is they haven’t met.”
However, the selection committee of the Film Federation of India (FFI) deliberated on 17 September 2013 and decided to send the Gujarati film ‘The Good Road’ instead.
This decision sparked outrage from many supporters of ‘The Lunchbox’, including its cast and crew. The film’s producer Anurag Kashyap quickly took to Twitter and expressed his disgust, saying “I don’t know who the Federation is, but it goes to show the complete lack of understanding to make films that can travel across borders.”
He later deleted both his Twitter and Facebook accounts, saying, “this is a moment of defeat for me, and for independent cinema, because, for once, our chances were great.”
Karan Johar also said he felt very disappointed that such a wonderful chance at Oscar glory with The Lunchbox was spoiled. Guneet Monga, ‘The Lunchbox’s’ other producer, said she was flabbergasted as to how the Federation could select a movie that didn’t even have an American distributor, and also listed the number of global festivals and appreciation her film received, concluding that it sadly and supposedly “wasn’t enough for the FFI.”